Societal & Cultural Aspects
In many cultures, human flatulence in public is regarded as embarrassing, but, depending on context, can also be considered humorous. People will often strain to hold in the passing of gas when in polite company, or position themselves to conceal the noise and scent. In other cultures, it may be no more embarrassing than coughing.
While the act of passing flatus in said cultures is generally considered to be an unfortunate occurrence in public settings, flatulence may, in casual circumstances and especially among children, be used as either a humorous supplement to a joke ("pull my finger"), or as a comic activity in and of itself. The social acceptability of flatulence-based humor in entertainment and the mass media varies over the course of time and between cultures. The humorous insult "I fart in your general direction" from the comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail has been reprinted on several posters, t-shirts, and hats. The Whoopee cushion is a joking device invented in the early 20th century for simulating a fart. In 2008, a farting application for the iPhone raked in nearly $10,000 in one day.
A farting game named Touch Wood was documented by John Gregory Bourke in the 1890s. It existed under the name of Safety in the 20th century in the US, and has been found being played in 2011.
In January 2011, the Malawi Minister of Justice, George Chaponda, said that Air Fouling Legislation would make public farting illegal in his country. The media had a field day with punning headlines when they reported the story. Later, the minister withdrew his statement.
Read more about this topic: Flatulence
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